A Recipe for the Flakiest Butter-Rich Biscuits

Updated: Apr 10

I found the 'flakiest biscuit' recipe by Angie Thomas on Tasty's website! This is the first and only biscuit recipe I have made. Tasty says only 94% would re-make... that 6% must like their biscuits dry and rock solid? These are delicious! Scroll to the bottom for an easy copy/paste of ingredients and steps for printing.

Baking Powder is made from Baking Soda. To substitute, use 3x the amount of Baking Powder that the recipe calls for with Baking Soda. Do 5.5 tsp of Baking Powder to compensate for the Baking Soda portion + the Baking Powder portion. Alternatively, you could add 1 teaspoon yeast in place of the Baking Soda. If you're making Gluten Free, your biscuits will not rise as high as a gluten biscuit. Various GF flours will rise less/more.

2. Using your hands or a pastry cutter, incorporate 1 cup unsalted butter (2 very cold sticks) into the dry ingredients, leaving large chunks.
I have used my hands many times! Cut your stick of butter into chunks. Take a chunk, put it into the flour, and smush it between your pointer finger and thumb and rub it. It will fold apart into smaller pieces. Do this for each chunk and just stir it into the batter. This is the part of the recipe that makes those 'flakes' in your biscuits. Alternatively, you can freeze your butter and lightly pulse it in a food processor.

3. Fold in 1 cup + 2 tbsp buttermilk until a thick dough forms.
They say 1 cup + 2 tbsp buttermilk. Each time I've made this recipe that is never enough. Start with 1 1/3 cup of buttermilk and add more as necessary when forming the dough. If you're interested in making your own buttermilk, read this blog post! I have used the Cream of Tarter + Milk & Vinegar + Milk before, and they've worked well for these biscuits.
I have read where people have added various other ingredients (1 egg, sprinkle of sugar, 1 tsp of vanilla extract, and/or 1 cup shredded cheese) here to this recipe. That's up to you.

4. Lightly flour a clean surface and dump the dough onto it. Bring the dough together until it comes together in one large piece.
THIS is the most annoying part of the entire recipe. You're trying to get the dough to stick together, but not make it liquid-y (cake batter). Trickle in more buttermilk as needed until the dough because pasty and stays clumped together. You would knead it as you're trickling in the buttermilk to help it stay. There will be leftover dough that just won't stick, generally 1/8 - 1/4 cup. You can freeze your dough as is right now by wrapping it parchment paper or plastic wrap or you can freeze them after step 6.

6. Roll out with a rolling pin to about 1 ½-2 inches thick. Using a biscuit cutter or small glass (I used a whiskey glass), cut out 2-3-inch rounds and place them on the prepared baking sheet. It’s okay if the biscuits are touching.
Once you cut out the first set of biscuits from the dough, roll it back up and repeat this step again until no more dough is left. I wrapped my extras in parchment paper and froze them.

7. Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until golden brown.
Mine took closer to 30 in my oven. Just set the timer for 18 and watch from there.

8. Brush the biscuits with melted butter (you could drizzle honey over them as well for honey butter biscuits).

I have made Apple Butter and Gravy for mine! I'll be adding the Apple Butter recipe soon. Here is the Gravy recipe. When I made the Apple Butter, I also made Apple Cider Vinegar from the apple peels; I'll that as well. The Apple Butter is in a Pioneer Woman Ramekin and I LOVE them. I found them at Walmart on clearance, so check there first!